This invention relates to a process for the recovery of oxazole from mixtures comprising oxazole. This invention relates to the recovery of oxazole from mixtures comprising oxazole and one or more of acetonitrile, acrylonitrile and, optionally, water. This invention relates to the recovery of oxazole from process streams produced during the manufacture of acrylonitrile, and more particularly by the manufacture of acrylonitrile by the catalytic ammoxidation of propylene or propane. This invention also relates to the purification of oxazole.
Oxazole is a heterocyclic organic compound having the molecular formula C3H3NO. It is a liquid at ambient temperatures. The 52nd edition of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics reports the boiling point of oxazole as 69–70° C. Oxazole is used as a starting material for the preparation of a variety of other organic compounds. It is useful as an insecticide; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,158. It is also useful as a solvent.
Oxazole is not readily synthesized. It is, however, produced as a minor impurity during the manufacture of acrylonitrile by the catalytic ammoxidation of a hydrocarbon feed, such as propylene or propane, in the presence of ammonia and an oxygen-containing gas.
The art needs a process to isolate such oxazole in an effective and efficient manner that provides oxazole in useful quantities and of a sufficient purity so that it can be used for the above-mentioned applications as well as other uses. The present invention provides such an effective and efficient process.